The same captain that William had seen earlier was in charge of the interrogation, though William wasn’t sure it deserved such a heavy sounding name. Upon seeing the circumstances, he seemed to have made up his mind about what had happened. Thus, he only asked for details that he couldn’t find from just surveying the scene. It wasn’t too hard to determine that the bodies were assassins. Even without the poison, attacking people in their rooms at night wasn’t the kind of thing that happened on accident or because of a minor grudge. William explained the situation to the best of his ability, but only because he was fairly certain that the captain was on his side in this matter. These people were assassins, most likely sent after them from the Song clan because of various conflicts. William recalled his account of waking up to the poison, and then killing the assassin outside his room and in his sister’s room. There wasn’t much else to say.

Next was Dong Xin’s turn, and William helped interpret and add words that Dong Xin didn’t know to the discussion. William realized why it had seemed so easy. Three assassins who were probably more skilled than the ones who William had fought had gone to Dong Xin’s room. After taking care of them, he’d also gotten the one outside the windows. They also used a much larger dose of poison on his room, but he noticed it earlier. The assassins seemed incompetent, not having done much of anything to Dong Xin even with numbers, but really they couldn’t be faulted. They had likely been hired in a hurry to kill William and his sister. The addition of Dong Xin was a last minute secret, but even if they had known about him they wouldn’t have been fully aware of his strength. As it was, their numbers and skill were more than adequate to kill the siblings, but Dong Xin’s presence had thrown them off. They had likely judged him to be weaker than he really was, which was understandable, so they still made the attempt. Fortunately for William, they were wrong. Though, William thought they slightly underestimated himself as well.

The captain didn’t look particularly happy. However, it was the kind of thing one would expect from having to wake up at this time of night to deal with an unpleasant situation. In the end, the group received a warning not to drag any citizens of Ostana into their conflicts, and that they would have to be very careful with their actions. They also had to pay for the damage William had caused to the door, but William found that was quite reasonable in any case. In the end, they were let off without any punishment, which William found was fair but not expected. However, it seemed the knights, or at least this captain, still honored the right of self defense, even to foreigners. Though, perhaps that was also because the aggressors were foreigners as well. William didn’t want to find out one way or another, because he wasn’t particularly fond of being attacked.

-----

Although Big Sister Li’s breathing was rough, in the morning she regained consciousness. She felt weak, but her life didn’t appear to be in danger. Unlike the other two, she was almost fully a wizard, with very little ki training. Thus, she had to recover at a mostly normal rate. She couldn’t do much on her own for a few days, so William and Dong Xin stayed around the inn with her. They didn’t want to risk anyone being on their own for a time. Dong Xin didn’t think it likely that there were more assassins, but he also didn’t think it was impossible.

-----

Two more weeks passed. The date for the meeting at the Wizard’s guild finally arrived. Dong Xin and William dressed up in their finest clothes. When they arrived at the tower, they were somewhat surprised to find that they would actually be meeting with the archmage. Hopefully, that was a good sign.

The office of the archmage was different than William remembered, as it would have to be since it was in a “new” tower. Dong Xin and William were escorted there, where they had to wait a few minutes longer, and then they were brought inside. There were two guards flanking the door- wizards. William’s eyes moved about the room, bringing everything in. The only way he could describe it was opulent. There was a giant window at the back of the room, giving a good view of the surrounding area. The walls had ornate bookshelves, and the books themselves were quite fanciful. The desk in the middle of the room had gold inlays, but William was glad to see that there were at least papers and other work on it. There was also a very heavy chair, almost like a throne, upon which a figure sat. Presumably, this was Cecil Lockridge. He himself was also adorned in a lavish robe, and he had a highly decorated staff leaning nearby. William didn’t particularly approve of the level of wealth displayed, but he could also understand the purpose of such for someone in power. Looking more closely around the room, William also recognized various wards, like those at the dueling arenas, and William absolutely approved of those.

The meeting started off with formalities and greetings. William and Dong Xin had discussed what things they would be saying and asking. Though William was translating, it couldn’t be sure that the Archmage wouldn’t know another language, though William hadn’t learned one himself. Thus, it would be best if Dong Xin could actually ask the questions that William wanted him to, as well as the ones he himself had in his capacity for the Order.

After the formal greetings, Cecil spoke. “I cannot say I have formerly heard of your guild of wizards. How many do you represent?”

“A few dozen.” William was glad that they really were representing a number of people, though they were not wizards. However, he was much better at lying if there was a truth he could say, even if it wasn’t exactly the answer to the question. Unless the demoness was involved, in which case she usually just saw through it and it was almost pointless to even try.

This kind of initial questioning continued, and it appeared Cecil was trying to scope out how much he should care, which wasn’t unreasonable. Finally, it was time to start asking the questions they were really here for, though they couldn’t ask them quite as straightforwardly as William would have liked.